Athanasius Yohan, Metropolitan of the Believers Church, has died in the USA

Athanasius Yohan (formerly known as KP Yohannan), metropolitan of Believers Eastern Church, died in a US hospital after being injured in a car accident.

In an official statement, the church announced that the prelate died due to sudden cardiac arrest at a hospital in Dallas, Texas, where he had been treated since his accident.

“It is with deep sorrow and sorrow that we wish to inform you that His Holiness Athanasius Yohan I, our honorable Metropolitan, rested in the Lord this evening, May 8, 2024,” it said. The synod will announce further details, it said.

Multiple injuries

After the accident, which occurred around 6:45 a.m. US time on May 7 while the bishop was taking a morning walk on a county road, the prelate suffered multiple injuries, including a head injury. According to a church spokesman, several of his ribs were broken, which led to lung injuries and internal bleeding. The prelate then underwent emergency surgery in the hospital.

Although there is not much clarity about the accident, church officials say it was not a hit-and-run and there is nothing suspicious at first glance. Police have also recovered the vehicle that hit the Metropolitan and have opened a case. Shortly after the accident, police rushed to the scene and he was flown to a hospital in Dallas.

As soon as the reports of the accident became known, the church secretary, Fr. Daniel Johnson traveled to the United States, while a team of bishops from the church was also expected to leave for the country soon.

Founder of Gospel for Asia

The 74-year-old prelate is the founder and president of GFA World, formerly known as Gospel for Asia, a nonprofit mission organization focused on India and Asia.

He was born in 1950 in a family of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church in Niranom village in Upper Kuttanad. At the age of 16, he joined Operation Mobilization (OM), an evangelical missionary movement, and served there for eight years. He later moved to the United States in 1974 to study theology at Criswell College in Dallas, Texas, graduating with a BA in Biblical Studies.

In 1979, Yohannan and his wife Gisela, a German citizen, founded a Texas-based organization now known as Gospel for Asia. In 1981, he founded a chapter of the Gospel for Asia (GFA) in Kerala and set up its Indian headquarters in Tiruvalla in 1983. In 1993 he founded the Believers Eastern Church as part of the GFA World Apostolate and was ordained its bishop in 2003.

According to the Believers Eastern Church, it has over 3.5 million members in 10 countries who speak a hundred languages. The church currently has 30 bishops with Athanasius Yohan as metropolitan.

He has two children, Daniel and Sarah.